By Paul Gotham
A blizzard with record-setting snowfall in the northeast may prevent travel for the Rhode Island Rams. That may be the only way to slow the Rams’ Hassan Martin.
Martin stuffs a stat sheet like a perfect counter-point to Mark Titus and Club Trillion. But when opposing coaches talk about the Staten Island native they focus on aspects of the game which can’t be easily measured.
“Rhode Island is a very good defensive team, and he’s a big reason why,” said St. Bonaventure’s Mark Schmidt. “He has a really good feel defensively with positioning and angles for blocking shots.”
The sophomore forward, who blocks 3.3 shots game, swatted seven in URI’s 53-48 victory over Bona including two in the last minute. He rejected a potential game-tying three with 25 seconds remaining.
“He came out of nowhere to block that shot,” Schmidt commented. “He’s athletic. He’s quick off his feet. He’s strong.”
The effort came on the heels of a record-setting 10 blocks in Rhode Island’s 59-47 win over La Salle, last Thursday.
“More than anything else I think it’s a sense of anticipation,” La Salle’s head coach Dr. John Giannini said of Martin’s abilities. “He just knows when you’re going to shoot the ball. His timing is just exquisite. I think that’s the most important factor. He plays far bigger than a guy who’s listed at six-seven.”
Video courtesy of Rhode Island Athletics.
The Explorers were the fourth opponent URI has held under 50 this season. Martin cemented the effort. URI’s perimeter defense limits opposing shooters to 27 percent beyond the arc (top ten in the nation). Martin lurks on the back line with a block percentage (number of shots blocked while on the court) of 12.5.
“Rhode Island was in control the whole game,” Giannini stated. “We couldn’t finish against them. Hassan Martin at 6-7 is a phenomenal shot blocker for that size.”
“His shot blocking numbers are better than most seven footers,” Giannini continued. “It’s really unusual to be able to do that at his size. I think it has to do with arm length and the fact that he’s very bouncy and very athletic.”
With a defensive rating (estimate of number of points scored by opponents over 100 possessions) of 79.4, Martin leads the A-10 and is more than five points better than VCU’s Briante Weber (85.1) in second. Per Basketball State, URI’s 56.9 points allowed tops the Atlantic 10 and ranks 13th in the nation.
But Martin isn’t limited to being a defensive specialist. He nets nearly a dozen a game and has reached double figures in 11 of URI’s last 13 games. The two contests in single digits were both URI wins – a three-point victory over Fordham in which he hit three of six and a 39-point drubbing of Delaware State when he connected on three of five in 22 minutes.
“One of the things that he does such a wonderful job of is playing to his strengths,” Fordham’s Tom Pecora said. “He takes shots that are makeable. He can step out and shoot the ball within his range, but at the same time he’s developed a great back-to-the-basket post game in my opinion, which is rare to find in this day and age.”
Of his 7.4 boards a game, 2.3 occur on the offensive end, and he knows how to convert putbacks. Per Hoop-Math, 74 percent of his shots come at the rim. He hits 69 percent of those attempts.
“He’s difficult because he’s going to hurt you on the offensive glass,” Pecora added. “He’s going to score in the post with his back to the basket. He can step out and knock down mid-range jumpers…He fills up the box score in a positive way.”
Martin is shooting 63.4 percent (83-of-131) overall from the floor. Despite playing more than 28 minutes in 18 games, his total number of shots falls short of qualifying him on the national charts.
“It’s who the kid is,” URI head coach Dan Hurley said. “He’s a throwback type of player where he plays to win, plays the game as hard as you can possibly play it. He’s a great, great competitor.”
Rhode Island (13-5/5-2 A-10) and Fordham (5-12/0-6) are scheduled to tipoff at 7 pm. URI defeated Fordham earlier this year, 68-65.
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